When someone says Information Technology, what do you think of?

Computers? The Internet? Mobile phones?
Do you think paper and pen? I doubt it. But paper and pen are information technology, they may be old now but they are still valid means of passing information from one place or person to another. Which is at it's fundamental, what Information Technology is all about.
The Sumerians were the first to use codes or language to pass information, so in a sense they created information technology. But before them our stone-age ancestors painted on walls and invented language; the means to pass knowledge verbally.
The Egyptians improved it by using paper rather than lumping rocks around and the Romans came up with the first PDA*. A wax tablet which could be used many times.

All of these methods were constrained by time and distance. Information could only travel as fast as a man, running or riding. Until flags, fire, bladders (yes bladders), the telegraph and then the phone came along in that order. Finally news and knowledge could travel faster than a man.

As much as this was great for those in power it also caused problems. Not only did they know of unrest in the provinces, so did the other provinces.
Rulers have always sought to limit access to information technology. But it has always found a way to get away from them. The printing press was the first real expression of citizen knowledge and power. People were empowered by the knowledge contained and more easily disseminated in a little book. No more asking permission to read a great tome in the chain library ( so called because the books are held captive by chains).

The telephone and the radio gave the next huge leaps in passage and engagement. But then the television arrived. Dictators rejoiced and knowledge slowly sank under the bilge called 'reality TV”.

Then came the internet. Rather than just viewing, people began using information. It has been said that this is a new age, with people creating as much as digesting information. That is not really true, people have always done this and found many ways to pass on that which they have created. The difference now is the potential reach for what they have created and how fast it can travel.
Once again those in power find them selves troubled by the ease with which people create, receive and use information. Look at the recent events in Iran.

The downside to all of this is that there is so much information we cannot deal with in meaningful ways. This makes it as useless as if it it did not exist. Worse it makes us miss that which we need to pay attention to.

Information technology is about the information. The rest is just the delivery, its not important. Wether you get the message via email or letter is not important, its that you get the message. More it's that you act on the information contained in the message.

So take a few minutes, have a think about what you do and how you do it. Before you grab hold of the latest fad or upgrade, ask your self, ' does this help me deal with my information any better, does it improve my decisions and my outcomes?”.

Be honest, because if it does not, you may just be about to save a lot of money and time.